THE EXILES: An Anime Metafic
by Exar
Summary: Plucked from a multitude of alternate universes, this group of strangers must work together to save all of time and space. Multianime crossAU.


Reality as we know it is made up of a nearly infinite number of parallel universes, some almost identical to our own, some to alien as to defy understanding.

This is the way of things, the way things have always been.

Until now.

Something has happened. Time as we know it is about to unravel completely. The multiverse stands on the brink of disaster.

You have become Unhinged from time.

You are the newest of

THE EXILES.

An Anime MetaFic By Exar a.k.a. Ben Jernigan

The full disclaimer is at the end of this story, as it contains a few spoilers. For now, simply assume that none of these characters are mine, I'm just borrowing them.

"All right you chubby bastard! Where the hell am I and whaddaya want with me?"

That was the first thing I heard as I came to. My head was throbbing like I'd had too much Sake and my nose was being tickled by a few blades of grass. I sat up slowly, gingerly allowing my skull to become accustomed to its new altitude.

I lay on my side in a seemingly endless field of grass. It streched off to the horizon in all directions I could see without a single bump or blemish. Rolling onto my back with a groan, I could see despite an abundance of light, there was no sun in the blue expanse above.

I pulled myself into a sitting position, my hands automatically reaching for and checking the position of the Cresent Moon strapped to my chest. Still there. Good. I sat cross-legged on the grass and took a good look around.

A male voice, very pleasant and totally artificial sounding, said. "All will be explained in time. I don't wish to repeat myself, so we shall wait for the others to come around."

The speaker was a middle aged man, dressed vaguely like a banker, who stood in the center of a circle of people. He was balding, overweight, and unless I missed my guess, a hologram.

The people forming the circle quickly caught my attention. They were a very interesting bunch. I felt I could probably learn much from them. At present, the only other one awake was the girl who had spoken earlier. She was a fairly short redhead with an odd pigtail and wearing chinese clothes. She carried herself like a fighter, and had the lithe, clean build of a martial artist. Strength without bulk, and nearly zero body fat. She looked to be about 17 years old. At the moment she seemed to be trying to reign in her temper, and was having difficulty with it.

Sprawled on the grass next to her was a young boy who couldn't have been more than 12 years old. He was wearing a nicely cut (but very small) suit and english style overcoat. He carried a large book, almost what one would call a tome, and a long staff with a strip of cloth tied to it. There was a pair of small glasses on the ground near his head I assumed were also his.

Next to him was a sight that set me to salivating almost at once. A young-looking woman wearing a tiger-striped bikini and boot set, who had long lustrous green hair. And oddly, two small horns poking out of said hair on top of her head. Even unconsious, her face was lined with the evidence of great sorrow, and she had large dark spots under her eyes.

Laying streched out perfectly straight on the grass beside her was a young albino girl with blue hair. She was wearing some kind of one-piece jumpsuit that had "REI" and "UNIT 0" stenciled on it.

Next was a man crumpled up in a heap, lying like a discarded puppet. He wore a tattered police uniform of a sort that seemed several decades out of style. Clutched in his left hand was a sheathed Katana. He had an eyepatch over his right eye.

Just starting to stir next to him was a plain looking young man in a lab coat. He seemed to be in his mid twenties and wore thick glasses. Under the lab coat he wore a striped sweater and khaki pants. A gold wedding band could be seen on his left hand.

I sat next to him, and I suppose I should describe myself for the sake of completeness. I stand about 5'9" and am very thin. I have wraparound sunglasses and a baseball cap on at all times, and a black and silver P90 submachinegun strapped to my tactical vest. I call it Cresent Moon. I was wearing standard BDU pants and a pink biking shirt under my harness. My name is Kintaro Oe.

On my other side lay a vision unlike any I'd seen before. She was a mature woman in the bloom of life, yet for some reason, she was wearing a parody of a schoolgirl's uniform. She was dressed in white and blue, with a very short skirt and a strange gold tiara framing her short blue hair. At her side was a small laptop computer.

Withing a few minutes, the whole group was awake and pestering the hologram with questions. Spreading his arms wide, he quieted everyone and said. "I am the Timebroker. You have become Unhinged from time. The fabric of time itself is coming undone, and all of reality is threatened. However, all of you are in a position to make a difference. If you work together, and follow my lead, you can save the mutliverse, one universe at a time. Will you step up to your new destiny?"

I could have sworn I heard the blue haired woman next to me mutter, "Again?"

The redhead stepped forward and said, "You can count on Ranma Saotome. I never lose!"

The tattered policeman quietly said, "The sword of Saito Hajime is at your service."

I cocked Cresent Moon and checked the safety. "Kintaro Oe is ready to fight, sir."

The blue haired woman sighed and said, "Sailor Mercury embraces her destiny."

The guy in the lab coat nearly tripped stepping forward, but said, "I'll do what I can to help. I'm Keitaro Urashima."

The bikini-clad girl whispered, "Lum will help. In darling's memory."

The albino, in a tone of voice totally devoid of emotion, said, "Rei Ayanami will do what is needed."

The boy looked totally overwhelmed, but to his credit, he stepped up too. "I'm Negi, Negi Springfield. I don't know how much I can help, but I can't just do nothing. I'm in."

The Timebroker smiled. It was a tight, nasty smile devoid of humor or compassion. It simply conveyed satisfaction at getting one's way.

"Very well," he said. "You are each Exiles from your own worlds and times, but together you may be able to do the impossible."

He gestured toward me and a large golden bracer appeared on my arm. It had a ruby set into the side of it that glowed faintly.

"That is the Tallus. It will enable me to communicate with you on any world in the multiverse. It will also serve to enhance your teleportation magic, Sailor Mercury. So that you can cross the boundaries between universes."

"I will tell you through the Tallus all you need to know about your missions. I will send you to the first world now. Good luck."

Blinding light filed my eyes for a brief moment, and then I found myself standing in Tokyo, near Tokyo Tower. The other Exiles stood around me, with similar shell-shocked expressions on their faces.

"Let's find a place to crash for the night, folks. We can get acquainted and get some food and rest."

"Who made you leader of us, buddy?" Spat Ranma. The redhead glared at me until her stomache growled loudly. "Though I guess food sounds good," she conceded.

Seeing no other dissenting opinions, we wander into the Ginza, looking for a cheap room and hoping our money would be good on this world.

Elsewhere-

a computer shuts down and a dark figure leans back, satisfied with a hard job done right. It looks over its shoulder at the rows and rows of crystal coffins hanging from the ceiling.

"It's a pity so many of them will die. But blood is the price to make up for our terrible error. Best that it not be ours."

End chapter 1

Full Disclaimer: The Exiles concept is property of Marvel Comics. Lum & Ranma Saotome are property of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ. Keitaro Urashima and Negi Springfield are propety of Kan Akamatsu. Rei Ayanami is property of GAINAX. Saito Hajime is a real person, but the version I am using is based on the fictionalized character from Studio Gallup's Ruroni Kenshin. Kintaro Oe is property of Tatsuya Egawa. Ami Mizuno is property of Naoko Takeuchi. Whew. that was a long disclaimer. 


End file.
